Modern Numismatics

Louis Golino

Louis Golino has been a collector of American and world coins since childhood and has written about coins since 2009. In addition to writing about modern coins and other numismatic issues for Coin World, he writes a monthly column for The Numismatist magazine and has written for other coin publications. In 2017, for “Liberty Centennial Designs,” in Elemetal Direct, he was presented with the Numismatic Literary Guild's award for best article in a non-numismatic publication. He is also a founding member of the Modern Coin Forum.

Where Did the Proof Jackie Kennedy Coins Go?

The proof version of the 2015-W Jacqueline Kennedy gold coin was backordered on the Mint's web site before sales even began, yet dealers already have graded examples of the coin in stock less than a week later.

The proof version of the 2015-W Jacqueline Kennedy gold coin was backordered on the Mint's web site before sales even began, yet dealers already have graded examples of the coin in stock less than a week later.

A Tale of Two Coin Releases

Today (June 30) at 12:00 pm EST the U.S. Mint
began accepting orders for the Harry S. Truman coin and chronicles
set, which includes the first reverse proof presidential dollar ever
minted. The sets have a fixed mintage of 17,000 units, and buyers
could place orders for five sets per household,though large numbers of
buyers got around the limits and secured larger numbers of sets.

Within 15 minutes the sets were unavailable and
likely sold out, which appears to be a record for the time a product
took to sell out. With most buyers ordering either a couple sets or
five, it only took a couple thousand orders to make the product disappear.

Fortunately,there were no computer glitches this
time, and people who were on the ball secured their sets and they are
already bringing $150-160 per set on eBay. I would not be surprised
if they reach the $200 level by next week. Many average buyers who
could not get away from work will be forced to pay a huge premium,
which is why I previously suggested a lower household limit.

Orders for these sets are shipping out quickly, according to buyers.

Last week on Thursday the Mint began accepting orders for the
Jacqueline Kennedy $10 First Spouse gold coin, but only orders for the
uncirculated coin began to be processed after being placed. The proof
version was on backorder from the time sales began. Orders could be
placed, but the web site said no stock would be available until
September 1.

Many buyers found this frustrating, especially since the proof
spouse coins are always more popular and bigger sellers than their
uncirculated counterparts.

In the numismatic blogosphere rumors began to swirl that the proof
coins were all snatched up by the big boys, major coin dealers, or in
the colorful description of one poster, “the big pig dealers.”

I was skeptical about such claims, and yet now I see that several
companies not only have the proof coins in stock already, but they
even have coins that have been graded with “first day of issue” labels.

I contacted the sales kiosk at the Mint’s Washington, DC
headquarters on the first day and was told they had no proofs, but
when I called back a couple days later I was told they did get some
proofs, and they sold out quickly. This facility does not typically
have a large supply of such coins with the exception of last year’s
gold JFK half dollars and the baseball issues.

So where did these dealers get all those proof coins, and how did
they manage to get them delivered to the Sarasota, Florida offices in
time for first day release grading?

And since the Mint clearly knew these coins would be in high demand
given their decision to up the mintage to a maximum of 30,000 coins if
necessary, why were no coins available for people who are not dealers?

I’ve always said our Mint is the world’s only mint that tries to
give collectors and coin sellers a mostly even playing field, but I am
troubled by how the Kennedy proof coin release was handled. I believe
the Mint owes its individual customers an explanation.

Is it fair to give dealers all the available supply of a coin at
release time so that they can maximize profits and make everyone else
wait until Labor Day? If that is not what happened, I would love to
know how those dealers got coins on the first day when there was no
first day sales announcement.

In response to my inquiry the Mint's Office of Public Affairs
provided the following statement: "The Mint underestimated the
initial demand for the 2015 First Spouse Series One-Half Ounce Gold
Coins - Jacqueline Kennedy and, unfortunately, the products went on
back order very quickly after sales started. As of June 30,
additional product arrived at our distribution center in Memphis that
will clear a majority of the backorders. The Mint has resumed
production and we expect to fulfill all customer demand in the coming
days and weeks. We apologize to our customers for the delay."

On July 1 the Mint's Adam Stump, who is Deputy Director of Public
Affairs, told me that the Jackie Kennedy gold coins, including proofs,
were sold at all three of the Mint's retail locations at its mints in
Philadelphia and Denver as well as its Washington, DC headquarters.

I had the pleasure of being at the actual Mint Sales Kiosk in DC last
Thursday. I (and the family) had visited there while were vacationing
(we live in Sarasota FL). I had called the kind gentleman (his name
escapes me) at the kiosk from the hotel that morning, inquiring on the
whether or not they would have Jackie O's in. He affirmed that there
'should' be some available (unc and proof). So, I had arrived at 11.45
AM there. I told him that I called and that I was checking to see if
both Jackie O's would be available, to which he replied "the truck
is in the back unloading now, should be about another 2 hours." I
took a quick visual of the small kiosk area and noticed some other
distinguished folks about that were obviously eagerly awaiting some JO's
as well. I asked the clerk if there were a lot of folks coming in for
the JO and he said that there a "few", but nothing like the
baseball and Gold JFK crowd he saw last year. To make a long story
short, I left and came back about 30 mins later and he did have JO unc'c
available (no proofs were available yet) and so I picked up 2. I left
again and eagerly came back another 30 mins later (this time with the
family) and sure enough he had the proofs available! Glad I didn't wait
a full 2 hours!! I snatched up 2 of those (tight budget with vacation
and all). NOW, HERE'S what I DID NOTICE -- there were 2 guys, a woman
and a baby next to the counter. The one guy had bought both unc and
proof, some 50+ of EACH!!!! YES at least 100!!! He and (presumably his
wife) along with a helper, were pulling the JO's out of the case,
labeling them and stuffing them into a FedEx envelope!! No doubt, they
were sending out those ASAP to get graded. The clerk and I were
talking as we were witnessing this activity and we discussed the
ins/outs of grading. I asked the clerk, tongue-in-cheek -- "What's
really the difference between a 69 and a 70 anyway?" To which he
replied "It's all about this -" as he rubbed his forefinger
and thumb together. I then disclosed that we live in NGC territory
(Sarasota FL) and we had a good chuckle. I told him that I figured,
based on my neophyte experience (I've been collecting for some 18
months) that of my modern coin submittals to PCGS, I average about 40%
on 70's (MS and PR), 60% at 69. The other guy (the one stuffing the
JO's into the FedEx bags) was now honed in on our conversation and was
nodding his head in agreement. I might add that the clerk was very
knowledgeable, kind and great with our kids.
The takeaway:
1. Boy, the wife and I were glad to be there as we have had the
nail-biting, sweat-filled experience of the 'countdown' to noon on
various releases, with laptops at the ready to lock-in an order. Sheer
luck to be in DC for vacation for the JO release!
2. I recognized the folks that were stuffing FedEx bags from a MAJOR
online dealer, not just average collectors.
3. Just sent my 4 JO's off to PCGS after I swore off grading!! Why does
the mint make those presentation cases so darn nice anyway?!? Which, I
do admit, the JO cases are gorgeous - what to do with them when I get my
slabs, presumably two 70's and two 69's?!? Aaaarrrgghhhh
Just thought I'd share my 2 cents (no pun intended) with y'all.
Also, managed to take the family to the BEP as well -- AWESOME!!!

I have been doing this for a long time and the trends are the perfect
storm.. First, it's a branch of the U.S. Government. My guess is that if
you look at the owners of the big boy dealers, you'll find sizable
donations being made to political campaigns - most likely current ones -
maybe the chair in the senate of the committee overseeing the mint
operations.. After all, these are political appointees. Amazing how with
certain household limits imposed on many products, some dealers manage
to have 100 of this or that ? Faithful employees, dirty accounts, or
just a friend in the right place... Almost like looking at banknotes
that are stars, solid numbers etc... No way with an even playing field
some dealers just manage to have the bulk of these items... BEP
political appointees.... Coincidence or dirt ?
After all, you can't fight city hall so just get used to it... It should
all be a lottery if they want a level playing field... But as long as
people kiss asses for jobs instead of earning them, this stuff will
continue to happen.